How 2 Speeches from Curt Cignetti Led Indiana Football Past Wisconsin

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Curt Cignetti saw it, his players felt it and Wisconsin capitalized on it.

No. 2 Indiana football came out tired, lethargic and flat in the first half Saturday at Memorial Stadium. Senior linebacker Aiden Fisher admitted postgame some players weren't ready to go.

The Hoosiers, by and large, looked like a distant cousin to the familial brand Cignetti has built, one marked by his oft-preached mantra of fast, physical and relentless. The scoreboard reflected it. Indiana, which entered as four-touchdown favorites, led only 10-7 at halftime.

Cignetti could've delivered an aggressive tongue-lashing to his team, one designed to motivate and light a fire. Instead, the 64-year-old took a dramatically different approach — and the No. 2 Hoosiers (11-0, 8-0 Big Ten) sprinted to a 31-7 victory over Wisconsin (3-7, 1-6 Big Ten) on senior day as a result.

"What's always worked for me in these situations and worked today again," Cignetti said postgame, "is instead of going in there and kind of rip-snorting at halftime, just telling everybody to take a deep breath, relax, have fun, go out there and play one play at a time."

Cignetti learned the lesson in 2012, his second year as the head coach at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. His team, which finished the season 12-2, had a narrow 7-0 halftime lead at home over Lock Haven University, which had a record-setting 45-game losing streak entering the day.

Instead of filling the locker room with vulgar words suited for such a blood-boiling moment, Cignetti felt compelled to do the alternative. He uplifted, and didn't put down, his team. IUP scored 35 unanswered points to win 42-0.

"I've done that ever since," Cignetti said, "and it's always worked."

The Hoosiers responded immediately, as redshirt junior quarterback Fernando Mendoza led a nine-play, 75-yard touchdown drive, capped by a two-yard pass to senior tight end Holden Staes in the right corner of the south endzone.

Indiana's defense forced a three-and-out, then a fumble, then another three-and-out, then an interception and, finally, another three-and-out. Wisconsin's offense ran only 15 plays in the second half, collecting just 23 yards while committing two turnovers.

Meanwhile, Mendoza and the Hoosiers' offense posted 229 yards and three touchdowns over the final 30 minutes of game action, during which Indiana possessed the ball for more than 21 minutes.

Indiana didn't change much schematically. At halftime, Cignetti often tells his team to calm down, rely on their work and trust their training. The Hoosiers' second half productivity stemmed from more physicality on defense and newfound momentum on offense.

And, across all three phases, a rediscovered intent to have fun.

"Coach Cignetti is a fantastic coach, and he understands his players and his team," Mendoza said postgame. "He knows we were a little lethargic, and we weren't playing our Indiana brand of football, especially offensively. So, he took us into halftime, told us to take a deep breath, to have fun, play football.

"And in the second half, I think that we saw that we could have fun and play football well."

The Hoosiers have the best second-half offense in the FBS this season, as they're leading the nation with 20.3 points per second half. Indiana is No. 6 in second-half defense, allowing only 6.1 points per second half.

It's part of the reason the Hoosiers never waver, never flinch, no matter their situation at halftime. On Saturday, they had additional motivation: 31 players celebrated senior day, and unless Indiana slips in the College Football Playoff rankings and doesn't receive a first-round bye, the Hoosiers won't play in Memorial Stadium again this season.

Senior defensive end Stephen Daley acknowledged Indiana wanted to have fun in its last home game. Cignetti put that idea back into his players' minds, something Daley said was beneficial to the locker room.

"Just knowing we're going to be okay," Daley said. "Like, there's no stress, whatever point favorites we are. It was a close game and all that, (but) just play our brand of ball and everything will work out for us."

Sophomore receiver Charlie Becker, who caught five passes for 108 yards and one touchdown, felt Cignetti's tone re-centered one of college football's most veteran teams.

"It's really good as a player, knowing we still have our coach who believes in us and is calm and not getting on us for all of our mistakes," Becker said. "But getting us back on earth and getting us ready to go out there and perform."

Unexpectedly, Cignetti had to deliver a similar speech only a few minutes after the first.

During Wisconsin's first drive in the third quarter, Badgers redshirt freshman running back Gideon Ituka endured a punishing hit from Indiana sophomore defensive end Daniel Ndukwe. Ituka remained motionless on the ground for several minutes while medical personnel cut off his jersey, brought out a backboard and eventually placed him on a stretcher.

Both teams took a knee while Ituka received medical care. Cignetti knelt at the 40-yard line, stationed to the left of receiver Jonathan Brady and running back Solomon Vanhorse.

Once Ituka and the cart exited Memorial Stadium, Cignetti gathered his team near midfield. Every player and coach took a knee around him, and Cignetti led the team in prayer. Mendoza said Cignetti's prayer centered around Ituka's health and safety.

"We said a quick prayer for him," Fisher said. "But that was pretty much it.  Just make sure the team knew there was something bad that happened. We're going to come together, pray for him, regardless if he's an opponent or not. You never want to see that in a game. I'm praying for him and his family."

Nearly 15 minutes after the hit, an ambulance carrying Ituka left for a local hospital. Ituka has full movement of his extremities and posted on social media afterwards that he flew back to Madison with the team. The game moved forward, and Cignetti wanted to ensure the weight of the moment didn't crush his players.

Similar to the wisdom he's collected about the tone of halftime speeches, Cignetti has experienced games where serious injuries changed momentum and turned big leads into late-game losses.

He didn't want to add another tally Saturday.

"It's hard there because you're not trying to be callous," Cignetti said. "You're not separating the football from the human element. We prayed — first thing we did was we took a knee and we prayed. Then we kind of refocused everybody for the game. It's great to hear the positive news up to this point on that individual."

Fisher, who stood only a few feet to Cignetti's right while he gave the impromptu speech, said Ituka's injury was "an awful thing to happen."

"We play a very violent sport," Fisher said. "When things like that happen, it kind of puts you into a new perspective that you're one play away from something like that happening. I don't know how much it puts a toll on your mind when you're playing.

"Try not to think about it because then sometimes it just kind of fogs your mind, but just a terrible thing to happen."

Indiana didn't let the sorrowful moment linger. Though the Hoosiers' offense went three-and-out on the ensuing drive, their defense forced a fumble deep in Badger territory, and Mendoza threw a 21-yard touchdown pass to tight end Riley Nowakowski the next play.

Wisconsin's offense failed to mount a serious threat, and the Hoosiers cruised to their 11th victory of 2025. It's the first 11-0 start in program history and the second consecutive season Indiana finished undefeated at Memorial Stadium.

Once the final seconds ticked away, several Indiana players ran to the stadium's northwest corner, celebrating with fans who'd witnessed history once again.

Now, Indiana wants to make some more — backed by the same attitude Cignetti instilled in his counterintuitive halftime speech Saturday afternoon.

"It's been fun," Cignetti said. "And let's have more fun."